Hips, Hips, Hooray! is a 1934 American pre-Code slapstick comedy starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Ruth Etting, Thelma Todd and Dorothy Lee. During its initial theatrical run, it was preceded by the two-color Technicolor short Not Tonight, Josephine, directed by Edward F. Cline.
Plot
Amelia Frisby owns a beauty-supply business. Andy Williams and Dr. Bob Dudley convince her to hire them as salesman to promote her new flavored lipstick.
Cast
Bert Wheeler as Andy Williams
Robert Woolsey as Dr. Bob Dudley
Dorothy Lee as Daisy Maxwell
Thelma Todd as Amelia Frisby
Ruth Etting as Herself
Phyllis Barry as Madame Irene
Matt Briggs as Det. Epstein
James P. Burtis as Detective Sweeney
Spencer Charters as Clark
George Meeker as Armand Beauchamp
Doris McMahon as Maid
Thelma White as Blonde (uncredited)
Production
A romantic subplot involving Ruth Etting was planned, but it was removed from the film. Despite her high billing, Etting only has one scene.
The film features Etting singing "Keep Romance Alive" and Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee singing "Keep on Doin' What You're Doin'" by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, a song originally intended for the Marx Brothers' 1933 film Duck Soup.
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Andre Sennwald wrote: "Those who admire the comic gifts of the cigar-smoking Woolsey and the cherub-faced Wheeler will find their faith nourished by the usual sum of ponderous jocosities. ... There are three reasonably hilarious gags and perhaps fifty more that depend on whether you are for or against the ex-vaudeville clowns to begin with."
The film returned a profit of $8,000.